Security Taking A Break

These two Great Pyrenees work as a great team to keep all the predators away from the house and my chickens. They deal with all the coyotes, coons, possums, skunks, pigs, big cats, bear and even hawks perched above. We lose very few chickens and nothing else has been taken in the night. We’re way off the road in the forest and keep all the lights out at night to give the dogs and my thermal an advantage over any 2-legged problems. The girls do bark a lot in the night, so its good the nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away and our well-built home is pretty sound proof.

The oldest dog is 5-years old and wandered up as a stray pup soon after we finished building the house. She was skin and bones, covered in ticks. My wife first saw her licking a deer lick. That severe malnutrition as a pup even stunted her growth. She has had a very good life ever since, aside from that day she was hit by a truck out on the road and ended up losing a front leg. After recovering, she now runs as fast as ever and is still a coyote killing machine. Our homestead has benefitted immensely from her and I doubt it would have been possible to keep chickens without her.

Not long after the older dog got established at our place, a pack of dogs got past her and I almost had to shoot them as they approached the chickens which were out of the pen. Fortunately, they saw me and left. I wondered, what if I hadn’t been there? After some research I learned Great Pyrenees work best as a team.

So, we got a puppy which has never had a hungry day in her life. She may outweigh the other by over 20-pounds but knows who the boss dog is. It’s amazing how they work together with the older one guarding the perimeter and the “puppy” staying in close so predators know which direction not to go.

We’ll be getting another of this breed soon because the other two are approaching half of their expected life. We might even get a pair to breed for another income stream and dog self-sufficiency.